Fungus Baby
by MrandMrsTemple
Summary: Disaster strikes Abby and Connor when their infant son is infected by a variation of the fungus creature. Can they get the antidote to him in time? Spoliers for episode 3.3,3.7 and 3.8.
1. Family Life

Fungus Baby

Chapter One

Abby Temple dipped the teaspoon into the plastic bowl and scooped out another spoonful of baby food. In front of her in the high chair was her year old son, Nicholas Connor Temple. His first name was in honour of Abby's late boss, Nick Cutter, while his middle name was in honour of his father.

Nick, as he was affectionately known by his parents and the rest of the anomaly team, was a sweet little baby with jet black hair like his father and a face very similar to his mother's. His eye colour however was not like either of his parents'. They weren't chocolate brown like Connor's, nor were they sea green like Abby's. Instead, they were a beautiful baby blue, which in Abby's opinion. was the colour that every baby's eyes should be but so rarely were, which made her all the more happy that fate had given her son those colour eyes.

There was a chirping from above their heads and Rex flew down and landed on the little table of the high chair, causing Nick to gurgle with laughter. Abby smiled as she gently shooed Rex away. She was so lucky to be living the life she lived now. She had three great prehistoric pets (Sid, Nancy and of course, Rex), she had a wonderful job at the ARC, she had Connor, her loving husband. And they had the best thing that either could have given the other: an adorable child.

Suddenly she heard Connor coming down the stairs. He came up to her and placed his hands on his shoulders, before planting a small kiss on her left cheek.

"Morning Abs" he said lovingly.

"Morning Con" replied Abby just as lovingly as she turned to face her husband. They smiled at each other but then, Connor turned his attention to their son.

"Morning Nick mate" he said as he ruffled Nick's hair.

"Say good morning to Daddy, Nick" cooed Abby. Nick responded by gurgling happily at both his parents.

"I can't wait till he can actually say good morning properly to us" siad Connor.

"Well he is" retorted Abby, "In his own sort of babyish way."

Connor smiled and kissed her.

"Well, I'd best be off then or Lester will have me thrown to the dracorex."

"Connor, you know he's a herbivore"

"Just have good day, both of you" said Connor cheerily. Then after kissing Nick softly on the forehead, he went out the door and soon, Abby heard the sound of the car leaving.

"If only you knew what Daddy gets up to during the day Nick, if only you knew."


	2. New Anomaly

Fungus Baby

Chapter Two

Connor arrived at the ARC just as the anomaly siren was going off.

"Ah, there you are my former (mercifully) flatmate" drawled Lester, "Just in time."

He turned to the rest of the team. "Well what are you all standing around for? Get to that anomaly site or there'll be no wages for a month!"

Instantly, Connor found himself caught up in a wave consisting of Danny, Sarah and Becker as they hurried out into the car park and headed staright for the anomaly site.

It was in a small, abandoned alleyway, the lack of footprints on the ground suggested that so far nothing had come through, at least, that was what was suggested. All the same, Becker had gone to have a look around, now he was returning.

"Well, found anything?" asked Danny.

"Nope, area's secure" replied Becker.

Alas he was quickly contradicted. From inside a nearby rubbish bin there came a mournful howl.

"What was that?" asked Danny.

"I don't know, I'll go check" said Sarah. Cautiously, she crept towards the bin, Becker watched her every move. For a moment, Sarah's hand hovered nervously over the lid, then she grasped the handle and yanked it off. She peered inside and immediately jumped back in horror.

Inside the bin was a cat. But it was a cat going through something that Sarah and all the team had seen before. The convulsions, the fur being covered in a layer of black goo.

"It's the fungus!" cried Connor, "It's back!"

Danny turned to Becker and Sarah. "Becker, get this whole area sealed off. Sarah, go back to the ARC and bring a medical team. We need to get this cat somewhere cold."

Presently, the cat, now almost completely consumed by the fungus, found itself being taken back to the ARC in a containment truck.


	3. Discovering the Cure again

Fungus Baby

Chapter Three

The entire team stood outside of the ARC's veterinary section. Earlier, Sarah had gone in there herself and turned down the heat. Now it was below freezing and the cat had been placed inside. Now all the team had to do was wait for the effects to take place.

At first, things seemed to be working. The fungus which had almost completely enveloped the cat was now shrieking and rippling as if about to abandon its host. But things didn't go beyond that and after half an hour of watching the fungus ripple and shriek, the team began to get worried.

"Why hasn't it crumbled away yet?" asked Danny, "It should have done so ages ago."

"Wait a minute" said Connor suddenly.

"What?" asked Sarah and Becker in unision.

"What if, in the future world, there are two different types of fungus, the one we encountered last time and this new one?"

"Or they could be the same fungus, except that it's evolved more" suggested Becker.

"Yeah well, either way, perhaps freezing isn't the problem."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Why on earth didn't I work that one out?"

Ignoring Danny, Connor turned to the rest of the team. "I'll be right back."

He dashed off to one of the ARC labs and returned dressed in a white bio-hazard suit and with a syringe filled with a yellowish liqiud.

"What's that?" asked Becker.

"Ever since that little incident with the last fungus creature, me and some of the other ARC doctors have been working on an alternative antidote to feezing". Connor turned to the door of the veterinary section. "I'm going in!"

"Be careful" said Danny as Connor entered the veterinary section. Connor went straight over to the writhing cat and knelt down beside it. Just to test that the syringe was working, he pressed the button of it, sending several small drops shooting out of the needle and onto the infected cat. The effect was instantaneous. The fungus let loose an ear piercing shriek and writhed about like never before. Gradually, it appeared to melt away from its host until was was a black gooey puddle on the floor.

Connor nodded curtly, before turning to the cat. He was shocked by its condition. It's already quite grubby fur had no become faded and it was extremely skinny. Connor could count its ribs.

"Poor little guy" said Connor, "Don't worry, we're going to make you better."

Gently, he picked up the cat, who made no effort to fight back, it was too weak after its infection. Slowly, Connor walked back towards the door. As he did so, he noticed Sarah, Danny and Becker all shouting and banging on the glass.

"Look behind you Connor" shouted Sarah over the intercom.

Connor looked behind him. The fungus was changing. It was no longer a puddle of black goo on the floor, it was now more like a cloud of deadly spores, buzzing around the lab like a swarm of bees as it searched for a way out. Connor was powerless to stop it as it finally discovered an air vent and went straight through it.

Outside, Danny turned to Becker. "Where does that vent lead?"

"Outside the ARC" replied Becker solemnly.


	4. A terrible mistake on Abby's part

Fungus Baby

Chapter Four

Abby sat at the table reading a book. Nick was on the floor in front of the television watching Tom and Jerry Tales on CITV.

Abby sighed. She was bored, the book she was reading had been good at first, but now it was beginning to get really implausible and frankly quite boring. She missed Connor while he was at work. Although Abby still worked a part time job at the ARC, since the birth of Nick, she had rarely been able to play a huge part in missions. In fact, the only time she was ever able to go to the ARC was when Nick was having his nap. Actually, now that Abby thought about it, that was right now.

"Come on young man" said Abby, "you're going to take a nap."

Nick made a sound like an angry bird as his mother scooped him up, but otherwise, he made no fuss. He was very good little boy when it came to taking his nap.

Abby carried Nick up the stairs and into the nursery, which had once been Jack's room when he had stayed at Abby's flat. Abby sighed as she placed Nick into his cot. She could never forget how that Haast's eagle had plucked Jack off the ground and carried him high up the cliff to its waiting mate and babies. She could still hear the screams as Jack was lowered into the gaping maw of the eagle chick. He had got lucky that first time in the future, but not that time.

Anyway, no point crying over spilt milk. Jack was gone. And even if he wasn't, Abby still wouldn't have trusted him as a babysitter. Her brother hadn't even been able to look after Rex properly, never mind a baby.

As Abby turned away to leave, she noticed how stuffy it was in the nursery. That couldn't be good for a young baby. Perhaps she should open the window and let some fresh air in. So Abby opened the nursery window just a little bit, before taking one last look at her sleeping son and leaving him in the nursery.


	5. Back at the ARC

Fungus Baby

Chapter Five

In one of the ARC's medical labs, Connor and some of the other ARC doctors were examining the cat, which was lying on an operating table in front of them with an oxygen mask over its face. For about half an hour they carried out various tests on it. Then Connor stepped outside the lab and adressed the rest of the team.

'Ok, I think I've worked out how this fungus works. You remember how the last one killed its host, ate its flesh and reanimated the body?"

The rest of the team nodded. How could they ever forget?

'Well, this fungus doesn't do that" continued Connor. "What it does is, after it infects its host, it slowly sucks all the nutrients from its body. So the host stays alive until the fungus has drained all of its fluids. After that it dies and the fungus looks for a new host."

"But how do you know all this?" asked Sarah.

"I did an X-Ray of that cat" said Connor, "There was still food left in its belly, enough so that it wouldn't be so emaciated if the fungus hadn't come along. Clearly it didn't get to suck those nutrients out."

"Right, but how are we going to stop that fungus?" asked Becker, "Need I remind you that it is now out there on the streets of London looking for a new host?"

'Yes Becker, I'm perfectly aware of that" said Connor patiently.

Suddenly the doors of the ARC hub opened and Abby walked in.

"Hi everyone, how's it all going?"

The rest of the team stared at her.

"Abby, what are you doing here?" demanded Danny.

"Well, Nick was having his nap, so I thought I'd just pop down to see how things were going." She turned to Connor. "Oh by the way, I left the window open just a tad so that he can get a bit of fresh air."

The team gasped. Sarah and Danny's jaws went slack, Becker's eyes widened with horror and as for Connor, well he lloked absolutely gobsmacked.

"What?" said Abby, "Is something wrong?"

******

The fungus floated through the London skies. It was frustrated. For an hour now it had been gliding around looking for something else to infect, but due to its limited number of spores, that meant that its new host would have to be a relatively small organism. So far, the fungus had been unsucessful in its search. There had been a number of good sized pigeons along the way, but they had wisely flown off when they saw it coming, and the fungus could not catch up with them. All the small dogs on the ground had been with human owners, and the fungus was not yet ready to cause a big fuss about the humans. So the dogs went uninfected.

The fungus decided that it needed a new approach to its search for a host. It would now go in through open windows. It saw one now. A window of the top floor of a flat was open just a notch, but that was as open as the fungus needed it to be. It glided through without hesitation.

Below it, it saw a room filled with various, gawdy toys that humans liked to give to their offspring. Soft cuddly animals, rattles and toy bricks. But in the centre of the room was something that really caught its attention. A cot with a sleeping baby boy inside.

The fungus could hardly believe its luck, the child wasn't even awake. It floated to the airspace just above the cot and hovered there for a few moments. Then it descended upon its new host.


	6. The mistake is realised

Fungus Baby

Chapter Six

Abby and Connor raced home in Abby's mini. Both were dressed in white bio hazard suits. Connor's foot was pressed down hard on the acceleration pedal. Neither he nor Abby had been so worried in their lives, they had to get home and shut the window before it was too late.

Finally, they pulled up in front of their flat. Abby burst out and through the door, Connor followed. Inside, it was quite obvious that something was wrong. Sid and Nancy were cowering under the table and Rex was flying as high up as he could, chirping with fright. From upstairs, there came the sound of growling and grunting, like the noises an angry seabird might make.

Abby and Connor dashed up to the nursery, hoping their worst fears were not to be confirmed. As they reached the nursery door, Abby's hand trembled over the handle for a moment. Finally though, she grasped it and opened the door. What she saw almost caused her to faint with horror.

The cot was empty, but its former inhabitant was on the floor. But it looked nothing like Abby and Connor's son. This thing was about the size of Nick, but it was standing on two legs and was black in colour. Its skin was bumpy and porous, and its face was blank apart from two, green slits for eyes. It was the fungus creature in miniature.

"No, Nick!" cried Abby. She dashed forward but the fungus leapt up on to the windowsill and opened the window even further. For a moment it looked back to make a foul growling noise at its host's parents, before leaping down onto the streets below.

Abby wailed and fell to her knees and sobbed. Connor came over and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, not that it did much good.

"It's all my fault, Connor" sobbed Abby, "If only I hadn't been so stupid, this would never have happened."

"Calm down Abs" said Connor soothingly, "It wasn't your fault, you couldn't have known this was going to happen."

Abby sighed and blinked away her tears, even so, a few still managed to trickle down her face.

"Look" said Connor, "The best thing we can do for Nick right now, is to get out there and catch him before he infects any more people."

"You're right, Connor" said Abby. "Let's get our son back!"


	7. Catching a Fungus

Fungus Baby

Chapter Seven

"Right, what are we looking for?" said Danny as Becker drove the ute through the streets of London.

"Oh I don't know, maybe a fungus creature the size of a baby?" suggested Abby.

"No need to be sarky" said Danny. He turned to Connor. "So what are we really looking for?"

"Well, the good news is, the fungus can only infect small things, because it hasn't got that many spores" said Connor. "The bad news is, its still gonna suck Nick dry of nutrients."

"That still doesn't answer my question though" said Danny, "What are we looking for that could help us find Nick?"

Suddenly from a nearby cafe, there came the sound of screaming, and people dashed out.

"That maybe?" suggested Sarah.

Becker pulled the ute up in front of the cafe. Abby, Connor and Danny got out wearing their bio hazard suits. A few people stared at them as they went.

"God, I wish Jenny was still here" said Connor, "She'd be able to explain all this to the public."

They went into the cafe and soon enough, they found Nick, or rather, the fungus Nick. It was growling and over turning tables and smashing up chairs. So far though, it didn't look like it had infected anyone.

"Nick" cried Abby, dashing forward before Connor could stop her. "Oh, Nick, what's happened to you?"

But Nick couldn't hear those words, the fungus could, but it didn't understand them. When it saw Abby coming towards it with open arms, it saw only a threat. It growled and lunged at Abby, knocking her to the ground. It stood on her chest and growled at her through the protective helmet she was wearing.

"Abby!" cried Connor. He dashed forward to help her, but the fungus growled at him, warning to keep his distance. Suddenly, Connor was knocked sideways as Becker, also dressed in a bio hazard suit, aimed a net gun at the fungus. He pulled the trigger and suddenly, fungus Nick was sent flying off Abby's chest, bundled up in a net.

As Danny picked Nick up and carried him squirming to the ute, it was all Abby could do to stop herself from crying.


	8. Can they cure it?

Fungus Baby

Chapter Eight

Becker hurled the fungus creature into the ARC's medical labs, where it finally wriggled free of the net. It growled with anger and hurled itself around the labs, especially towards the window seperating it from the team. Danny turned to Connor.

"Alright Connor, you know what to do."

Connor nodded and turned to a sobbing Abby.

"Don't worry, Abby. Everythings going to be ok."

"You think so?" said Abby.

"I know so" said Connor comfortingly. And with that, he went into the lab, armed with the sryinge with the medicine that would save his son.

When the fungus saw him. It growled and charged over but Connor was ready for it. As soon as it came within range, he kicked it hard in the belly so it landed on its back.

"Get out of my son, now!" shouted Connor as he plunged the sryinge into the fungus and injected the antidote. The fungus squealed in agony. It writhed about and grabbed its shapeless head. Its skin started rippling slightly until finally...

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!

The fungus exploded. Black slime flew all over the lab, most of it landed on the window. But enough space was free for Abby to peer through and see her son, scrawny and crying on the floor.

"Nick, Nick!" cried Abby as she darted into the lab, "Oh my baby, are you alright?"

It was a rhetorical question, for Abby could see that her son was definitely not alright. He was now incredibly skinny, the fungus had absorbed most of his baby fat, his blue pyjamas didn't even fit him anymore. He was crying from the injection his father had been forced to give him. Fortunately, he had not felt the kick Connor had also had to give him. The fungus had protected him against that at least.

Connor stroked his son's forhead. Tears trickled down his face as he saw the devastation the fungus had caused to Nick's health.

"We need to take him to a medic, quickly."

******

The next week was one of worry for the Temple family.

Nick had to be placed in a special medical lab in the ARC. Fortunately, one of the ARC medics used to be a paediatrician, so her knew how to handle Nick. Various tubes and wires and pacemakers were placed all over Nick's body. His food had to be blended up and pumped through a special tube into his stomach.

In all that time, Abby never once left the ARC. For health and safety reasons, she was not allowed to go into the lab, and so had to settle with sitting on a chair outside. She sat there for days, constantly staring through the window at her tiny son. The sight of him all wired up like that made her want to cry but she stayed all the same. No one could persuade her sto come home, not Danny, Sarah, Becker, even Connor couldn't persuade her. So she just sat there, never eating, barely even sleeping, just sitting there, watching over Nick. Had Connor been able to, he might have done the same thing. But Lester, although sympathetic, was also strict, and Connor still had to go on missions.

But finally, the medic came out of the lab and handed Nick, a happy, healthy baby once more, back to his mother.


	9. Decisions

Fungus Baby

Chapter Nine

James Lester sat in his office in the ARC, filling in forms. Occasionally, he would stop to throw darts at a picture of Christine Johnson which hung on his wall.

Suddenly, Abby and Connor walked through the door. Abby had a serious look on her face, in one hand she held baby Nick, in the other she held a sheet of paper.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?" asked Lester with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Abby placed the sheet of paper on Lester's desk. It was a resignation form.

"I'm quitting Lester" she said bluntly.

"What, why?" demanded Lester.

Abby sighed and looked at Nick for a moment. "Because Connor and I have just come really close to losing our son. We got lucky this time, but it could happen again, and next time, we may just lose him for real. Could you live with yourself if it happened to one of your children Lester?"

"But, didn't you have plans for Nick to join the team when he leaves school?" said Lester.

"Not anymore we don't" replied Connor, "From now on, he's gonna have as normal a life as Abby and I can give him."

Lester turned to Connor, "Are you quitting as well than?"

Connor looked at Abby for a moment. "No, no I'm staying, someone has to do something to make the bills pay."

Lester sighed and reached for Abby's resignation for.

"Well, I suppose this is goodbye then. Goodbye Abby."

"Goodbye Lester" said Abby. She turned to Connor "I'll see you at home."

And taking Nick with her, she turned around and walked out of the ARC doors for the last time.


End file.
